STUDENT REPORTS
ECONOMIC HISTORY OF VENEZUELA 31
Geographical 31
Political 32
Banks and Currency 33
Aids to Economic Development 34
Government 35
Prospective 36
POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, EDUCATION 37
Census Reports 37
Most Thickly Populated Districts 38
Need of Immigrants 39
Inducements to Immigrants 40
Educational Facilities 41
PORTS OF VENEZUELA 46
Coast Line 46
Major Ports 47
Minor Ports 48
Special Port Activities 49
Port of La Guaira 50
Pilotage and Towage 52
Lighterage and Cartage 52
Stevedoring 52
Port Charges 53
Wharves and Warehouses 53
Documents 54
OCEAN, CABLE AND RADIO COMMUNICATIONS 55
Shipping Communication 55
Number of Ships Entering each Port 57
Nationalities of Ships Entering same Ports 58
Steamship Lines 60
Red "D" Line 62
Cable Communication 63
Wireless Communication 64
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 65
New National Highways 66
Equipment and Care of Highways 67
Automobiles in Venezuela 67
Venezuelan Railroads 68
Waterways of Venezuela 71
AGRICULTURE IN VENEZUELA 73
Agricultural Zone 73
Products 73
Coffee 74
Cacao 74
Tobacco 75
India Rubber 77
Sugar Cane 78
Wheat 80
Cotton 80
Tonka Beans 81
Vanilla 82
Cocoanuts 82
Indian Corn 83
Beans 83
Indigo 83
Capital Invested in Agriculture 84
Forest Zone 85
CATTLE INDUSTRY OF VENEZUELA 87
Number of Cattle 88
Other Live Stock 88
Exports of Pastoral Zone 89
Facilities for Cattle Raising 90
Obstacles to Cattle Raising 92
Recent Developments 93
Centers of Animal Industry 93
Dairy and Canning Plants 93
Price of Land 95
Desirable Regions 95
British Investments 96
MINERAL RESOURCES OF VENEZUELA 97
Land Surface of Venezuela 97
Rocks 97
Gold 98
Copper 99
Iron 99
Coal 100
Salt 100
Summary of Ores Mined in Recent Years 102
PETROLEUM AND ASPHALT IN VENEZUELA 102
History of Petroleum 103
Mining Law of 1905 103
New Code of 1909 104
First Development of Petroleum Fields 104
Mining Law of 1918 104
Contracts Awarded 105
Opportunities for Development of Petroleum Industry 107
Petroleum Exported 108
Description of Asphalt 108
Occurrence of Asphalt 109
Asphalt Industry 110
CHECKS, DRAFTS, BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND TRADE ACCEPTANCES IN
VENEZUELA 110
Function of Credit 110
Extent of Check System in Venezuela 111
Clearing of Checks 112
Laws regarding Commercial Paper 112
Drafts and Bills of Exchange 113
Long and Short Time Credit 113
Foreign Drafts 114
Definition of Trade Acceptance 115
Extension of Usage of Trade Acceptances 116
COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS IN VENEZUELA 117
Importance 117
Climatic Conditions in Venezuela 117
Customs Duties on Samples 118
Catalogues 118
Knowledge of Language and Customs of Venezuela 119
Climate of Various Cities 120
Market for Various Products 120
Complaints Against American Methods of Packing 120
Roads and Highways in Venezuela 121
Tables of Distances Between Principal Cities 121
Freight Charges 126
Financial Conditions 126
Currency 127
Venezuela's Tariff 127
Opportunity for American Travelers 128
FOREIGN INVESTMENTS AND AMERICAN CAPITAL IN VENEZUELA 129
Venezuela's Public Debt 129
Foreign Banks 130
Public Utilities 131
Other Investments 131
Investment Opportunities 132
Proposed Railroads 133
FOREIGN TRADE AND AMERICAN GOODS 137
Foreign Trade in Venezuela 137
Effects of the World War 138
Imports and Exports 139
Summary of Venezuelan Foreign Trade--1917-1919 140
Market for American Goods 141
Complaints Regarding Packing 141
American Selling Methods 142
German Competition 142
Customs Collections 143
American Personnel in Venezuela 144
APPENDIX
CLOSING LECTURE IN SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE BY DR. PEDRO ITRIAGO
CHACÍN 145
EDITORIAL COMMENT BY AMERICAN AND VENEZUELAN JOURNALS 156
Good Trade Ambassadors, _N. Y. Post Express, August 11, 1920_ 156
Student Fraternization, _El Nuevo Diario, Caracas,
June 20, 1920_ 156
Llegada de los Estudiantes Americanos, _El Nuevo Diario,
June 27, 1920_ 158
El Profesor Sherwell, _El Universal, June 27, 1920_ 159
Dr. Sherwell Arrives, etc., _La Prensa, New York,
August 26, 1920_ 161
Georgetown Students Welcomed in Venezuela, _Sunday Star,
Washington, July, 1920_ 163
El Match de Base-ball, _El Imparcial, July 18, 1920_ 164
ILLUSTRATIONS
At the foot of Bolívar's Statue _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
Salutation--Georgetown to University of Caracas 16
Reply of University of Caracas to Georgetown 20
Map of Venezuela 24
Dr. Sherwell and Georgetown Students 31
Rancho Grande and Ocumare de la Costa 49
Bolívar's Home in the Mountains. On the Road from Maracay to
Caracas 65
At Central Tacarigua. At foot of Statue of Ribas 97
Ceremonies in honor of Bolívar and Washington 133
Trophy presented to Georgetown Students by Minister of Public
Instruction 165
REPORT OF THE REGENT OF THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE TO THE
PRESIDENT OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WITH RESPECT TO THE VISIT
OF CERTAIN STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY TO VENEZUELA.
* * * * *
OFFICE OF THE REGENT
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
WASHINGTON, D. C.
March 1, 1921.
_To the President of Georgetown University._
_Sir:_
I hand you herewith papers relating to the visit to Venezuela made by a
group of eighteen students in the summer of 1920. These papers comprise
a brief report of the trip, by Dr. G. A. Sherwell, who was in charge of
the mission, some of the essays on the economic resources of Venezuela,
prepared by the students, and, in the appendix, a translation of a
notable address delivered by Dr. Itriago Chacín at the close of the
Georgetown students' sojourn in Caracas, together with editorial
comments from certain journals of this country and Venezuela. I venture
to refer briefly to each of these documents.
Dr. Sherwell's report makes clear how great was the courtesy shown and
how extensive were the facilities afforded to the Georgetown students
by the official and academic authorities of Venezuela. I believe the
University, and for that matter academic circles outside our own
University in this country, must be grateful for the many attentions
and unfailing interest manifested by the Venezuelan officials and
teachers in the work of these students.
Dr. Sherwell's report likewise makes clear that the contact was a
valuable one for the particular students who made the trip, and that
they bore themselves well and creditably. All the more satisfaction may
be derived from this fact inasmuch as the students selected might be
fairly taken as a cross section of the student body in the School of
Foreign Service,--and you are already aware how widely representative
of the youth of our country that student body is. That these young
men should have made a favorable impression in a rather long trip of
this character when they were under the observation of a great number
of persons, and often in situations calling for a demonstration of
no inconsiderable poise and sense of the fitness of things, can not
but enhance our satisfaction and our confidence not merely in the
resourcefulness but in the trustworthiness of the men upon whom this
country must depend in the future for the promotion of her trade and
the dignified and active representation of her policies.
The address of Dr. Itriago Chacín has been reproduced in full,--in
so far as a translation can ever render the full effect of an
original,--and it is, quite apart from its intrinsic merit, a document
of much interest, for it shows how profitable and enlightening must be
the studies in the field of political science carried on by students
sent out in groups under conditions described in this report. Studies
in the field of Political Science are not, to be sure, the primary
object of students going abroad to survey the economic resources,
the commercial usages, and the facilities for transportation and
distribution of commodities in the countries which they visit. None the
less, sustained contact with trained masters of political studies may
at times be possible, and should in all cases be availed of in order to
gain the valuable experience of hearing points of view on matters of
international policy developed in other countries and under conditions
quite different from those obtaining at home.
Space forbids that more than thirteen of the reports prepared by
the students be published. Those selected are believed to have the
more general interest and to contain material not easily found in
other sources. All of them were based upon personal investigation
and consultation with Venezuelan authorities. Obviously, there are
evidences of hasty preparation and the papers leave something to be
desired in the arrangement and presentation of material, the collation
of figures, and the critical discussion of printed sources. In places,
too, there are statements which might require modification if a more
mature person were to assume responsibility for the given report. They
are submitted solely as the work of students in process of formation.
It is of interest to call attention to the fact that this visit to
Venezuela was the source of much favorable comment in the press of
the two countries, several papers in the United States dwelling upon
its significance as the first formal effort to place our own students
directly in contact with the life of the other Republics. Specimens are
included in the Appendix.
Dr. Sherwell has referred to the bestowal of a decoration on him by the
Venezuelan Government, and has minimized its personal significance.
This reservation of his I transmit with amendments, for I can not but
share the views of the Venezuelan authorities in granting him first,
the Medal of Public Instruction and later the Order of the Liberator,
that he had rendered Venezuela a lasting service, no less than his
own country, by his dignified, gracious, and enthusiastic interest in
the promotion of the intellectual and commercial relations of the two
republics.
The immense practical value of laboratory work in the physical sciences
is among the cardinal tenets of sound pedagogy. In like manner, the
application of economic principles and theories of political science
to actual conditions as they exist in the world to-day is the ideal
feature of a liberal education for foreign service such as this
department undertakes to provide. Perhaps in no other educational
program should more pains be taken to cultivate the faculty of accurate
observation, exact expression and bold initiative, based on logical
reasoning aided by fertile imagination.
Proficiency in the technique of foreign trade or consular practice or
diplomatic procedure is but a fractional part of the full equipment
of American youths aspiring to serve their country's interests
abroad either in public or private capacity. Technical knowledge
will be futile unless humanized by a broad sympathy with the men and
institutions of other climes. Therefore, the policy of sending such
groups of students abroad deserves encouragement, and I earnestly
recommend that the Regent of the School of Foreign Service be
authorized, on the basis of the substantial success of this first
experimental visit, to send such students as it is possible to select
and send under competent direction, to other countries in the summer of
the present year and hereafter.
Respectfully, EDMUND A. WALSH, S. J.,
_Regent_.
To
JOHN B. CREEDEN, S. J., PH. D.,
_President of Georgetown University_,
_Washington, D. C._